NCUA: Security Office Will Tap Existing Resources

The NCUA’s plans to establish a new office that will focus solely on agency security and continuity shouldn’t have a big impact on the 2014 operating budget. Public Affairs Specialist John Fairbanks told Credit Union Times the new office will be comprised mostly of existing NCUA resources.

“There is an ever-increasing focus on, and need for, stronger security, so we performed an internal review of our security functions,” Fairbanks said. “We determined it is best if we consolidated our various security functions under one office instead of the current decentralized model.”

The new office will also handle continuity of operations at the NCUA, which is an existing function that addresses all circumstances, including natural disasters and other emergency events, he said. Fairbanks also said the NCUA anticipates naming a director of the new office in the near future.

The NCUA’s announcement came in response to Credit Union Times questions about examiner safety, prompted after court documents revealed NCUA employees discovered 10,000 rounds of ammunition and semi-automatic weapons in a storage room when they seized the $23.6 million Taupa Lithuanian Credit Union in Cleveland earlier this year.

NCUA employees also discovered a go bag in the office of former CEO Alex Spirikaitis, which was packed with blank identification cards, clean underwear, a razor, a Los Angeles map and a variety of prepaid cards, prosecutors said.